Washington, D.C. District Judge, Tanya Chutkan, on Monday, set a March 4, 2024, as the trial date for former United States President, Donald Trump’s federal election interference case.
Forbes reported that the court denied Trump’s request to hold the trial in April 2026 and instead established a schedule that overlaps with the presidential primary calendar.
Trump is slated to go to trial in the case charging him with four felonies related to his efforts to block President Joe Biden’s 2020 election win a day before Super Tuesday, when more than a dozen states will hold their 2024 presidential primaries.
Chutkan reportedly said during a hearing on Monday that neither the January 2 trial date proposed Smith’s office nor the April 2026 date proposed by Trump’s legal team is “acceptable”.
Trump’s attorneys argued for a later date, citing the need for “a reasonable amount of time to prepare” a defense, while Justice Department lawyers said Trump’s public attacks on the merits of the case heighten the need for a speedy trial, alleging his rhetoric could potentially taint a jury pool.
“Let’s take the temperature down,” Chutkan said when Laurao, Trump’s counsel accused prosecutors of wanting a “show trial” rather than a “speedy trial,” according to Politico.
“I understand Mr. Trump is presumed innocent, as is every defendant . . . Let’s not overlook the fact that Mr. Trump has considerable resources that every defendant does not usually have.”
Trump, earlier in August, was criminally charged in a federal investigation into efforts to overturn the result of the 2020 presidential election.
According to BBC News, Trump was accused of conspiracy to defraud the US, tampering with a witness and conspiracy against the rights of citizens.
The indictment caps an inquiry into events surrounding the riot two-and-a-half years ago at the US Capitol. Although, the former president denied wrongdoing.
Trump is charged in two other cases: with mishandling classified files and over a porn star’s hush-money payment .
Trump has also been charged in New York City with falsifying business records over 2016 hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Trump has, however, vowed to keep running for the White House election of November 2024, regardless of whether he is convicted in any of the cases against him.
